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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2023-03-06; Traffic and Mobility Commission; MinutesMarch 6, 2023 Traffic & Mobility Regular Meeting Page 1 Council Chambers 1200 Carlsbad Village Drive Carlsbad, CA 92008 March 6, 2023, 4 p.m. CALL TO ORDER: 4:03 p.m. ROLL CALL: Coelho, Fowler, Penseyres, Proulx, Newlands, Garcia and Kohl. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: Chair Coelho led the Pledge of Allegiance. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Minutes of the Regular Meeting held on Feb. 6, 2023 Motion by Commissioner Newlands, seconded by Commissioner Penseyres to approve the Minutes of the Regular Meeting held on Feb. 6, 2023, with the amendment to Page 1, Item 1 of the minutes to reflect that Commissioner Newlands made the motion to nominate Commissioner Coelho to be the Chair of the Traffic & Mobility Commission. Motion carried, 7/0. PUBLIC COMMENT: None. CONSENT CALENDAR: None. DEPARTMENTAL REPORTS: 1. POLICE REPORT REGARDING TRAFFIC & MOBILITY-RELATED MATTERS DURING THE MONTH OF FEBRUARY 2023 – Received a presentation from a representative of the City of Carlsbad’s Police Department that provide an overview of traffic and mobility-related police matters during the month of February 2023. (Staff Contact: Lieutenant DeVelasco, Police Department). Staff’s Recommendation: Receive a presentation Lieutenant DeVelasco presented the report and reviewed a PowerPoint presentation (on file in the Office of the City Clerk). The Commission received the report. In response to Commissioner Newlands’ inquiry regarding if there is a type of accident identified for the bicycle and e-bike injuries, Lieutenant DeVelasco explained that they follow Statewide Integrated Traffic Records Systems or the guidelines from the State of California on how to document the collisions. He further explained that the guidelines state that if a March 6, 2023 Traffic & Mobility Regular Meeting Page 2 bicyclist crashes and does not get hurt then it is viewed as a non-injury collision, and it does not have to be documented in a report. In response to Vice-Chair Fowler's comment that it seems to be a very high level of warnings compared to citations, Lieutenant DeVelasco explained that the officers are given a great deal of discretion on whether to issue a warning or a citation. In response to Chair Coelho’s inquiry regarding whether it is a violation for an e-bike rider to ride on the sidewalk inside of the parks, Lieutenant DeVelasco explained that it is not clear cut whether that is a violation. He added that they are currently working with the City Attorney to make that determination. In response to Chair Coelho’s request that the Commission would like to see the bicycle incidents with more details, Lieutenant DeVelasco responded that staff would provide more detail. In response to Commissioner Penseyres’ request that the Commission would like to see the same type of information that they are currently reporting, like the number of crashes and the cause but instead of taking just a months’ worth of data they would take a rolling years’ worth of data and compare it with the year before, Lieutenant DeVelasco responded that the department will revisit the way the information is being presented. In response to Commissioner Proulx’s feedback that the data can be prior months, but it does not have to line up with the current month, Lieutenant DeVelasco agreed and added that the information would be a little more detailed and accurate if they use that one-month window to prepare the data. 2. MULTIMODAL LEVEL OF SERVICE METHODOLOGY UPDATE – Receive an overview of the City of Carlsbad’s multimodal level of service and provide feedback. (Staff Contact: Nathan Schmidt, Public Works Department). Staff’s Recommendation: Receive the presentation and provide feedback. Transportation Planning & Mobility Manager Schmidt presented the report and reviewed a PowerPoint presentation (on file in the Office of the City Clerk). In response to Commissioner Kohl’s inquiry regarding the slide showing that a mid-block crossing may be required, Transportation Planning & Mobility Manager Schmidt explained that with the multimodal level of service, staff is really looking to address pedestrian safety and provide safer crossings at intersection locations not where jaywalking may occur. In response to Commissioner Kohl’s inquiry as to whether or not the literature from former Vice-Chair Linke on this topic or public comment be reviewed to see if anything should be incorporated into the changes, Transportation Planning & Mobility Manager Schmidt March 6, 2023 Traffic & Mobility Regular Meeting Page 3 explained that the feedback from former Vice Chair was received and considered during the work with the ad-hoc committee. In response to Commissioner Newlands’ request, Transportation Planning and Mobility Manager Schmidt showed a slide where the pedestrian level of service results change if all of the recommendations from staff were implemented. He explained that per the ad-hoc committees’ revisions, 85 of 92 segments fail. He added that with the additional changes proposed by staff, that goes down to 32 out of 92 failures. In response to Commissioner Proulx’s inquiry regarding who selected Level D as the appropriate level of acceptability, Transportation Planning and Mobility Manager Schmidt explained that city staff, a consultant and the ad-hoc committee all helped choose Level D as the acceptable level of service. He added that this is also consistent with the General Plan Mobility Element which requires the city to maintain Level of Service D or better for each mode travel for which the Multimodal Level of Service is applicable. In response to Commissioner Proulx’s inquiry if there can be aim for a better level of service, Transportation Planning and Mobility Manager Schmidt explained that when the ad-hoc committee and staff looked at that and came up with a level D as the bar that staff are to meet for Carlsbad. He added that this is what Carlsbad thinks is an acceptable level of service. In response to Commissioner Proulx’s inquiry about the constraint regarding sidewalks that are wider than American with Disabilities Act (ADA) requirements, Transportation Planning and Mobility Manager Schmidt responded that they are proposing five-foot sidewalks which are wider than ADA requirements. In response to Commissioner Proulx’s inquiry if the North County Transit District (NCTD) is in charge of all bus stops and whether or not Carlsbad has any say in what the bus stops have or should have, Transportation Planning & Mobility Manager Schmidt explained that City of Carlsbad does have input on the bus stops, and they are keeping that in the methodology that NCTD utilizes to determine the appropriate level of amenities at individual stop locations. He added that staff is proposing to add these specific ridership thresholds to the Transit LOS to make sure the provided amenities are consistent with NCTD’s bus stop guidelines. He further explained that if there is a stop that is not being utilized and does not meet the boarding thresholds, then staff would not ask a developer to come in and build a shelter in that location. Transportation Planning and Mobility Manager Schmid is recommending for consistency with NTCD standards for when amenities are added at bus stop locations. In response to Commissioner Proulx’ comment that she would like to see the city achieve a level of service C as the minimum acceptable, Transportation Director Frank explained that level of service D is very typical of general plan prior circulation elements, in the City of Carlsbad’s case it is now a mobility element. March 6, 2023 Traffic & Mobility Regular Meeting Page 4 Commissioner Penseyres commented that streetlights are not helpful for cyclists at night in urban areas because it washes out the lights on the bicycles as well as on the motor vehicles, and cyclists are more likely to get hit after dark if their lighting system isn’t good. He added that meeting the city standard for streetlights is not a good thing and that giving those points is sending the wrong message. He further added that the change from the gutter pan and everything to the right of the gutter pan should not be included as part of the bike lane width. Commissioner Penseyres commented that an elevation change due to a drainage grate could potentially cause the front wheel of a bicycle to be trapped. He added that one thing that was done in the past was to change the drainage grate to asphalt so there is no change in elevation or a lip, and he does not think staff have recognized that as a cause of solo bike crashes which tend to happen mid-block as opposed to intersections or alleys. In response to Commissioner Penseyres inquiry related to the number of places that staff reviewed level of service for bikes if it included the arterials, Transportation Planning and Mobility Manager Schmidt explained that arterials are not required for bikes for multi-modal level of service thus arterials were not tested. In response to Vice-Chair Fowler’s comment that the city should aspire to a better level of service than level D, Transportation Planning and Mobility Manager Schmidt explained that the main thing to focus on is the essential feature issue. He added that capping it at level of service D basically means that it is an essential feature so, if a development project comes in and it’s getting to the level of service E, it will trigger the need to mitigate, that could be constructing transit stop amenities or something to meet that minimum essential feature requirement. In response to Chair Coelho’s comment if there is a distinction between an ADA pad and a typical waiting pad perhaps the city should require having a designated waiting area that is not on the street, Transportation Planning and Mobility Manager Schmidt responded that staff could consider adding this requirement. Motion by Chair Coelho, seconded by Commissioner Proulx to appoint Commissioner Penseyres, Commissioner Kohl and Commissioner Newlands to the multimodal level of service ad-hoc committee. Motion carried, 7/0. 3. SUSTAINABLE MOBILITY PLAN AND MULTIMODAL TRANSPORTATION IMPACT FEE - Receive an overview on the city’s implementation plan for the Sustainable Mobility Plan and Multimodal Transportation Impact Fee Program. (Staff Contact: Nathan Schmidt, Public Works Department). Staff’s Recommendation: Support staff’s recommendation. Transportation Planning & Mobility Manager Schmidt presented the report and reviewed a PowerPoint presentation (on file in the Office of the City Clerk). March 6, 2023 Traffic & Mobility Regular Meeting Page 5 In response to Commissioner Proulx’s inquiry about the Multimodal Transportation Impact Fee (MTIF) versus the Vehicles Miles Traveled (VMT) fees that seems to be redundant and perhaps double dipping, Transportation Planning and Mobility Manager Schmidt responded that the intention is not to allow double dipping and the developers would need to pay the MTIF, and the city may allow them to pay additional fees to address their VMT impact. He further explained that it is essentially an additional mitigation tool that developers will be able to use to address their California Environmental Quality Act and, or VMT impacts. CITY TRAFFIC ENGINEER COMMENTS: Transportation Planning and Mobility Manager Schmidt mentioned that there will be some Traffic Safety Workshops coming up over the next few months, and the first will be held on Thursday, March 16, from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. Transportation Planning and Mobility Manager Schmidt mentioned that the city will be hosting a Parent University called “Keeping our Kids Safe on Carlsbad Streets, What All Parents Should Know”. He added that the next class coming up will be City Cycling Classes held at the Pine Avenue Community Center on March 25, and April 22, from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m., people are welcome to bring their e-bike or bicycle and get some hands-on experience and anyone can register for these events at the safer street’s website: https://www.carlsbadca.gov/departments/traffic-mobility/safer-streets/safer-streets-together Transportation Director Frank shared that staff is currently cat tracking the striping on South Carlsbad Boulevard between Manzano Drive and Island Way. He explained that this means they are putting down the guidelines so that the long line striping machines can come and do the finish striping. He added that this will be a more recent example of our road yoga, showing that we are not changing the configuration at the intersection but are changing it to a one vehicular lane configuration and giving more room to the active transportation users. He further added that there will be a buffered bike lane for the cyclists and a striped median space for the pedestrians. TRAFFIC AND MOBILITY COMMISSION COMMENTS: Commissioner Proulx mentioned a pothole on the north lane of Palomar Airport Road at the crossings. Commissioner Penseyres inquired about adding the word safety back into the name of the Commission and suggested it be called the Traffic Safety and Mobility Commission. Deputy City Manager, Public Works Gomez explained that the name is listed in the Municipal Code as the Traffic and Mobility Commission. She added that staff will consult with the City Attorney’s Office, but she believes at a minimum it would need to have an ordinance presented to make a change. Motion by Commissioner Penseyres, seconded by Commissioner Newlands directing staff to bring back a report on how to change the name of the commission from Traffic and Mobility Commission to Traffic Safety and Mobility Commission. Motion failed, 3/3/1 (Proulx, Newlands, Garcia – No; Kohl – Abstain). March 6, 2023 Traffic & Mobility Regular Meeting Page 6 Motion by Commissioner Kohl, seconded by Commissioner Newlands directing staff to bring back a report on how to change the name of the commission from Traffic and Mobility Commission to Traffic and Mobility Safety Commission. Motion carried, 5/2 (Fowler, Garcia – No). In response to Chair Coelho’s inquiry on when staff will take the Safer Streets Together back to the City Council for approval, Transportation Planning and Mobility Manager Schmidt responded that it is scheduled for City Council review on March 21, 2023. ADJOURNMENT: Chair Coelho adjourned the Traffic & Mobility Commission Regular Meeting on March 6, 2023, at 6:15 p.m. ___________________________ Eliane Paiva, Secretary